ARCADE
by He Who Surrenders the World
Summary: "I'm Jaune Arc. I always ask myself, am I the hero in a video game? I dunno, but it's gonna be fun finding out! Oh, and please forget about that time I fell in what might've been Goliath poop, 'cause seriously, what kind of hero does that?" Character study; deconstruction of video game mentality. I don't own RWBY.
1. You're SPECIAL!

**XxX**

A man exited from a room. He looked to the walls and found a row of chairs waiting for him. Immediately, he slumped into a seat, the unwavering grin he'd been sporting for the last ten minutes breaking through his overgrown, blond stubble.

"Something good happen?" He started. The blond hadn't even noticed another person next to him. Nonetheless, he did him the courtesy of offering a smile and giving an answer.

"Yessir. My first son, just born," the father replied, taking notice of his conversational partner's attire. He wore a brown duster along with a hat that bore wear and wrinkles from a lifetime of being covered in sand or dust and from the crown repeatedly being pushed in and out. Even now, he was somewhat grimy. The man was smiling, however, with the corners of his slightly unkempt mustache upturned enigmatically. "I've had five girls already, so I'd expected… well, another."

Really, thank the gods. If his family was nothing but women, as evident by his current 5 daughters, he might've found himself going a little mad - Saffron was already a rather precocious firstborn while Wisteria was already too smart for her own good. Thankfully, Vert was much calmer and, while Azura was more energetic than her sisters, she wasn't keen in being hyperactive. And then there was little Dawn, who loved playing doctor with her friends. He'd even given her a little stethoscope and a fake doctor coat - non-hazardous, of course.

Aurelius loved his family, of course, but they were absolutely nuts.

The stranger beside him chuckled, almost mocking the idea of offering him a modicum of sympathy. "I remember what that's like. Kid running around all the time and being too guileless to know when to hold his ground or to run for the hills." His voice stopped briefly before he kept speaking, "Teach the little guy to know when to hold 'em and fight or fold 'em and run. Who knows what he might get up to otherwise," the stranger muttered, "World's too wild for a lil' kid lookin' for action."

The new father nodded thoughtfully, thinking about what the man had said about his own son; maybe that's why he was here, for a son who'd not known whether he should've run or fought.

"Well," he drew something from a pocket in his duster and put it into the father's hands, "here." It was a worn, brown cigar. "To your first son. Did the same when mine was born." His words, even with his gruff, worn tone, were oddly compelling. Aurelius almost, almost capitulated to his desire to just sit and just celebrate – after all, he was a father to his first son now!

"The hospital would have me out faster than you could say Grimm," he replied cheekily as he pocketed the stogie, "so I'll wait. Thank you, I appreciate the sentiment."

The stranger wave his hand nonchalantly. "'S fine, fella. Don't worry." He didn't seem to care too much about the rules as he flipped open an engraved lighter, covered in somewhat scandalous image of a woman in an angel costume, before lighting his cigar. Slowly, he took a puff, looking past Aurelius through the windows – almost as if he saw something else besides the same old leafless trees Aurelius drove past each day. The mysterious stranger took one more puff before getting up and walking out toward the exit door with steps gritty from salted snow and ice, done with waiting for whatever or whomever he'd been in his seat for. He raised his cigar to Aurelius without turning back as he left, "To your son."

The father nodded and echoed the stranger's words, "To Jaune."

The father of Jaune Arc watched him leave, curious about the man before deciding to stay with his wife. Maybe he'd see the man again since he'd here, waiting to take home his wife and baby boy. Maybe. He grinned like a loon again, remembering the tender yet thrilling sight of his wife cradling his baby boy in her arms for but a few moments.

In spite of his feelings, he might be forced to leave before his wife woke up. The girls didn't like waking up alone after all… he'd left them last night after tucking them in early; they'd probably be awake right now, wondering where mommy and daddy were...

On second thought, he'd better head home. Right now. Hastily, he informed the doctor that he'd be going home to take care of his daughters and quickly kissed his sleeping wife.

Aurelius Arc stepped out into brisk, snow covered parking lot. As he took a deep breath, he pulled out his own matchbox from his jacket - as a Huntsman, he always kept one on him - and lit it up, putting the cigar to his lips. He grimly took a pull before eventually blowing some smoke and coughing. The family man idly wondered what his daughters would say when they smelled the old stogie on his breath.

There weren't many cultural ceremonies his family had as they were Atlesian natives turned Vale immigrants, much less one to celebrate a newborn boy, even if he was the first son. As far as he knew, there should be celebration. But everyone involved was just too exhausted throw a party. They'd do so once Carmine returned from the hospital with his daughters' new brother.

Grimly, he took one more pull before coughing even harder. He buried the tip into a snowy dune before tossing it into the garbage and entering his car.

' _That was almost as gross as raising a baby_ ,' he thought as he chuckled, remembering once when Azura's vomit had been blue-ish. He drove off, ready to hear the cheers of his darling daughters.

Hours later, he was rushing back, deaf and blind to the dangers of icy roads only to find a squadron of police vehicles surrounding the hospital, almost waiting for him.

 **XxX**

Jaune Arc was one to fixate. Whenever he saw something interesting, he'd reach his little pudgy hands for it. Usually, he'd fail, but he'd keep trying; he didn't know what he'd do once he touched it, but he'd probably put them in his mouth. Eventually, he got some things - a lot of fingers from his mom, his dad, and his sisters.

He'd usually put his older sister's fingers in his mouth. He couldn't bite, but it was always fun doing it. The kinds of sounds his sisters made were always different. They sounded like the biggest, warmest girl, the one who always held him and gave him food. Whenever he touched their fingers, they'd make sounds that he made when he was happy. Were they happy?

Other times, when his tummy was moving all around, his food would come out - it was inside and now it's out! How cool! - and then everyone would make the same noise and touch their head before making sure he wasn't wet or mad or hungry or sad.

The biggest, fuzziest finger and the long warm finger were the ones he just held. They gave him food so he didn't need to put them in his mouth - the one that was fuzzy felt like his head and if he couldn't move his tongue his head, it was probably because he couldn't eat the fuzzy stuff on it. He just held them with little hands and the fingers would make noises.

They were warm, a lot warmer than the big girls. And it felt right to look at them. He tried making the same sounds as them would make them come or give him food. Only when he was loud did they really give him food or clean his bottom. When he wasn't, they made him feel warm.

The part that was always different… were those weird… things beneath where he looked at them. Squiggles, like on the things everyone looked at. He wanted to look at them too, but he didn't know why they were looking at them - did they make noise? Did they tell them when to eat? When to make messes?

Jaune didn't know.

He saw biggest fuzzy fingers, long warm fingers, and big girls every day. Someone who saw him was clean. He remembered shaking when he was covered in wet stuff. There was wet stuff recently that made him shake - It was nothing like the warm fingers! That was the color of the man.

He had a lot more squiggles under his fingers and head. He kept touching Jaune with his fingers, all near the fuzzy stuff on his head. They felt cold. He made lots of loud noises like when he wanted food, but the cold man didn't leave. He would sooner or later so Jaune stopped make loud noises; it wasn't like the man listened like the fuzzy and long fingers did.

The cold man came over a lot. He touched Jaune with weird, cold toys and kept touching him with fingers that didn't have any fuzz, like the long warm finger had.

That was how it was.

He was looking at the squiggles that the fuzzy, biggest fingers touched. Maybe if he stared long enough, they would turn into food! Maybe…

Aurelius Arc could only groan when he saw the son he was reading to try to eat the story book.

 **XxX**

The squiggles were something. Jaune didn't what they meant, but at least he knew they weren't just squiggles.

Dada - or, big fuzzy fingers - and Mama - long, warm fingers - had him look at a lot of them. They made sounds over and over again; eventually, Jaune figured out that they wanted him to make those noises. Well, why not? And so he did.

Mama and Dada pointed at the squiggles and made sounds when they did. How neat - each squiggle made a sound, but they didn't mean giving him food! Jaune got mad. And he made that very clear. Thus, he got some milk to drink.

Once more, Papa pointed to the squiggles. There were a bunch grouped together and he made a different sound every time he pointed to one. Jaune tried to copy him but a lot of the sounds didn't come out right.

Papa showed him something amazing - he could make squiggles! With a little yellow finger that was dark on its end, he made little dark squiggles. Jaune wanted that! He took the dark and yellow finger thing and made big, enormous, amazing squiggles!

Papa held Jaune's arm and fingers - he was warm! And being soft like Mama! - and moved the yellow finger in a pattern. He was making some of the same squiggles on the paper with all the different sounds.

"Jaune," Aurelius said, enunciating every sound. "J-A-U-N-E," he continued and said every letter.

"Jau!" The happy baby Jaune, or 'Jau' exclaimed with a giggle.

The man finally cracked a smile and held his adorable infant son close. It was rare that Aurelius felt content to be so openly affectionate and not be so distant with everyone nowadays. Still, his wife and children always managed to bring out the part of him he'd nearly buried the day Jaune was born.

The baby's vision was dark as his head was gently nuzzles against Aurelius's chest. Still, the baby could only gibber in surprise.

Even when everything was dark and he couldn't see, the squiggles he always saw near Dada were still there! But now that he looked closer and tried using the yellow finger, these squiggles were different from the ones Dada made.

If the sounds he made were himself, then maybe the squiggles he saw near Mama meant her! Did everything have squiggles?

He had to know!

 **XxX**

A deliberate rhythm of dull "thunks!" were heard coming from the kitchen. The bananas that were being chopped were to be mashed up as a supply of baby food during the Arc family picnic for Jaune. Yet, Carmine was almost on autopilot.

She was worried. She didn't know if she was scared.

A month ago, her husband had finally shown Jaune writing and how he held a pencil since he'd been so eager to read and hear more stories. The 19 month old had spent all the time he wasn't spending sleeping, eating or playing with his family trying to learn to hold it. It had been good for her husband since he'd been drawing into himself more ever since Jaune was born, even seeming distant to her at times. Still, that wasn't what she was worried about.

It had been a month since then and he'd already developed the motor control to hold a pencil, more than a full year earlier than most babies had started to successfully learn letters or learn to write.

Was her son a genius? She didn't know. She did know her son was single-minded, obsessed with letters and numbers. He was mentally developing so fast.

It didn't seem like he held as much regard for moving, though, as per his already advanced motor control, Jaune was already walking, running, and jumping around with more competence than expected of a 2 year old. Of course, her daughters and Aurelius might've been catalysts for that, playing with him so much. In fact, a lot of the physicality and strength Aurelius showed his children rubbed off on Jaune. He didn't realize it, but Jaune had slowly been picking up his father's gestures and postures. Her son also tried toddling on his little legs to try to follow Aurelius out the door whenever he went out for work before being carried back to her.

On the other hand, Jaune had been trying to copy Azura whenever she's been showing off what she'd learned in her preparatory Mistrali dance classes. He didn't develop the same balance she had nor the balance the teachers expected of students, but Carmine knew Jaune was interested. She'd caught him spinning in place quite often like Azura had shown him, after all. He wasn't as balanced – yet.

Jaune was growing very fast. The series of doctors that had seen him had no idea what was so different about him that day when he was born, but it seemed like a lot of what was different about him now was manifesting neurologically. There weren't any tools or machines that could really give them a good look at Jaune's brain, save for splitting his head open, which would NOT happen, but it was clear that his mental capabilities were a cut above most other infants' capabilities at this point.

Dr. Maroon had presented his guess that his brain was perhaps larger than or had more folds on average compared to the average child, but without any sort of ability to check his brain, Carmine would regard his suggestions with a slight amount of skepticism.

Carmine dumped the carrots into a bowl before she started mashing them up as best as she could.

She was almost afraid to let him play with other children; he was still too young for that, but he had his had his sisters. Maybe that was all he needed.

She grimaced a little, almost refusing to allow it internally. Why was she so afraid? Her baby boy, her perfect, amazing son. Little Jaune - why was she so uneasy about the inevitability of letting him be around other people?

Aside from being so developed, he didn't do anything different. He loved his family. She remembered when he hung onto her belly like it was a lifeline when he fell asleep atop of her while was taking a nap.

He was the apple of his sisters' eyes. They all made time to play with him and he loved it. Of course, "play" was subjective. Saffron practiced her speeches to the infant, Vert dressed him up in her old clothes and Dawn loved pretending he was her patient - he always giggled adorably when she put her stethoscope in places he was ticklish.

Wisteria didn't really like playing with anyone, but when she heard of how he'd developed, she started taking the time to both read to him and with him, teaching him. Of course, they weren't stories like Carmine would read for him or Aurelius would tell him about being a Huntsman. They were her science books.

And finally, Azura. She'd show him her dances and sometimes help him copy her, if incorrectly - he was barely 2 and though he could walk, he certainly couldn't dance!

He did all this and more. He was adored by his sisters even if they didn't say it.

So why? Why was she so worried? What was it about her extraordinary son, aside from being the sole survivor of a tragedy - possibly a crime but a tragedy nonetheless - that made her so afraid for him or whomever he was around?

These thoughts would continue to plague her during and after the family picnic. They grew ever more rampant as Jaune finally learned to read aloud and write words when he was 31 months old.

It was in his 3rd year of being gifted that the answer to her ominous quandary over Jaune's life became manifest.

 **XxX**

"Happy birfday to me…" Jaune sang quietly, if incorrectly, unable to keep his big smile off his face. He'd had an amazing day! "Happy birfday to me… happy birfday, happy birfday…"

The day had been amazing for the young boy. Aurelius had taken him out to play with his sisters in fresh snow that had fallen overnight before his birthday. They all made snow angels, sculpted snowmen, and even had a contest to see whose snowman was best. Jaune won, of course, if only because his father was touched that he tried to make a snowman look like him - and it didn't since the boy had used sticks for arms and a carrot for a nose - and since it was his birthday. The birthday boy always won.

Then his sisters and mom all played with him at home while making some delicious solid warm food he could finally eat since he'd finished teething a while ago. There was even a birthday cake Carmine had baked with some help in managing ingredients from Wisteria and Saffron.

They'd played and been happy all day. And the presents for him had been oh-so-splendid!

Carmine had given him a warm hat to cover his little head of golden hair. Aurelius had given him a music player with big headphones that, thankfully, Jaune couldn't fit in his mouth since, even at age 3, the boy had yet to relinquish his habit of stuffing everything in his mouth.

Jaune's sisters had pitched in to get him a big, fuzzy stuffed bear, which was big enough to cover one of their entire beds! It was another place, besides his little bed, on his parents' tummies, or any of his sister's beds, for him to nap on. Many well-wishers had dropped off smaller presents while wishing the happy family outside well. There weren't many, but some came. A lot of those ones came from people he didn't know, but most of them gave the boy lien for his future whims.

Jaune, of course, didn't know that; all he knew was that there were some funny, colorful cards and some yucky looking pieces of paper. Some went in his mouth, the others didn't. This was before his parents noticed and quickly made sure to keep both the liquid Lien and checks out of his reach.

He quickly scanned the pile of ripped up wrapping paper, looking around for – aha! One last present! Small, but a present! More wrapping paper to be ripped! The 3 year old giggled as he tore of the plain wrapping paper, which made a long, pleasant sound.

Oh? A small bunch of papers, like the ones Dada read from! It was a book, the kind that told stories, but it was small, tiny enough for his hands. There was even a picture of a baby on the front, but he wasn't a baby anymore! He could read it!

Excited and eager to prove a point, Jaune flipped through the pages and pretended he could read all the words. "S-s-sen…"

Jaune frowned and looked through the book, skipping pages. "P-p-pow… E-en… wah?" He finally reached the end of the book and there was something lying waiting at the end. He flipped to the last page and, suddenly, a quick spray of something emerged from the book!

Jaune was caught off guard and blew raspberries till the taste was gone. "Egh! Book go pee-pee!" he exclaimed, still blowing raspberries.

He dropped the book before, suddenly, falling back onto the bed. Somehow, the boy had fallen unconscious.

.

.

.

Unaware to any of the inhabitants of the house or Jaune, the book was slowly dissolving, disappearing from the back cover to the front. The pages faded, words and paper breaking down. If Jaune could read, he would've noticed the words on the pages.

He might've realized that everything was about to change.

 _L is for Luck, and it's simple you see! It means that good things always happen to me!_

…

 _A is for Aura, a power of the soul! It makes me healthy, I can use it to fight, and it keeps me whole!_

…

 _I is for Intelligence, it means I'm really smart! I use my brains for lots of stuff, like science, math and art!_

…

 _C is for Charisma, it's why people think I'm great! I make my friends all laugh and smile, and never want to hate!_

…

 _E is for Endurance, and that's how long I can play! I'm always really healthy, and have energy all day!_

…

 _P is for Power, and that means that I am strong! I can carry lots of toys, run and jump, and swing stuff all day long!_

…

 _S is for Sensory, so I am great at hide-and-seek! I can find you but won't find me, because I can sneak!_

…

Finally, the cover began its slow melt to nothingness, its vivid, bright colors a mockery of what the future held for the boy who'd read the book. For in a world of monsters that sought the death of all life, how could any statement like the one on the cover be any good omen?

…

 _You're SPECIAL!_

 **XxX**

 **End Chapter 1**

 **(Update: 11/24/17. Cleared out a mistake I made with storyline, and made some grammar/spelling checks.)**

 **Hello, I'm Ultraviolet. I've written fanfiction before, my best to date another VideoGame! fanfiction, but I've written it under a different penname and when I was younger. Suffice to say, it is all deleted and discontinued due to the escalation and edgy direction I had taken the story, and unless you go on some Russian sites, you won't find them.**

 **This is the result of my fascination with the RWBY universe, my desire to make a fanfiction rekindling, and that no good Coeur al'Aran introducing me to the malleable character that is Jaune. Surprisingly, if not for him, I wouldn't enjoy RWBY as much as I do, so thank you, if you're reading this.**

 **This might be the longest author's note I have on this for the foreseeable future, so I'll make the point of this story clear here.**

 **The original intent of this story was to be a character study of a Gamer character. While we all appreciate how people have changed as they were thrust into a Gamer-like world, they've had the benefit of experiencing reality before experiencing the 'game'. I'd like to use Jaune's character as a medium for the character who's not had a chance to understand reality as separate from the 'game'. It feels like this makes more sense in my head, so I'll leave it at that. Refer to this in the future if you'd like to understand why I do things.**

 **Still, if you have questions, leave a review, or PM me. I really appreciate feedback and please let me know if I am being at least somewhat faithful to Jaune's character. I came into this fully prepared for the implication that the character created may be OOC, so I will accept that cross to bear and will gladly strive to maintain some of that Arc-ness that I strive to maintain. I will answer any questions I feel need to be answered here at the bottom.**

 **This may or may not be the precursor to a number of other stories I intend to write since my brain has been abuzz with ideas of Jaune-centric stories, unfortunately. I know the public opinion of him isn't great, so if you are of that mind, let me know with a Review and then proceed to fuck off with any remnants of the vitriol you feel you've adequately spewed to me.**

 **Look forward to another update within a week to 2 weeks, depending if I have time. Exam season, you know. With that said, enjoy, and I hope you stay for the ride.**


	2. If You Could See What I See

**XxX ARCADE CHAPTER 2 XxX**

Carmine was hunched over Jaune's bed as she held her son, hands shaking, while her son trembled in her arms. Aurelius could only take over making breakfast where she'd stopped, his expression drowned by his expansive frown. His daughters were watching wide-eyed, both for Jaune to wake up and for breakfast to be served so they could go to school.

The morning after his third birthday, Jaune's family awoke cheerfully, unable to dispel the contagious joy that had infected Jaune and them by proxy.

This joy faded almost immediately upon realization that the 3 year old had yet to wake up. Carmine and Aurelius were filled with dread when they looked at him. His sisters didn't know why he wasn't waking up; they only knew that there was reason to worry for him and so they did.

The little boy had yet to be sick a single day of his life, barring any infections he'd been safeguarded from due to receiving his vaccinations. Yet, Jaune was now hot, feverish, and moaning in pain. His eyes were squeezed shut as he cried, so tears leaked from them. It definitely wasn't the usual bug that hit kids, especially since the season for it had passed. Immediately, Aurelius and Carmine called in a professional.

Dr. Arnaud Maroon, the Arc litter's primary care physician, had told him as much as Aurelius had suspected. He said that Jaune wasn't traditionally sick from whatever infants his age usually contracted nor from the coterie of bugs or ailments his sisters previously had.

Aurelius noted that the man genuinely cared. He'd squeezed his son's hand lightly with a distressed face as he kept a thermometer steady beneath Jaune's tongue. And why wouldn't he be distressed? However extraordinary Jaune was or how tragic the events of his birth were, he was still a sweet, lively son, better than he deserved, better than anyone could ask for.

And all Maroon could dare to say was, 'Wait and hope.' Right. As if he could look at his teary-eyed, practically comatose son and do that. Wait and hope that he would recover from something ailing him that not even a doctor knew how to fix.

The dying caginess that had consumed Aurelius after the tragedy that had surrounded his son returned in full force as he retreated emotionally once more in his worry for Jaune. The boy almost had to be held down at times by his mother and also during Maroon's appointment when his moans grew in volume and his body shifted in bed. Both parents could only wait with growing anxiety for their only son to awaken and show them that he was alright.

Right now, like he had been for the last two days, Jaune was in agony. And Aurelius could only empathize; he wished with all his being he could take on his son's suffering to spare both his son of any and all pain in the world and to spare himself the pain of watching his son suffer without anything he could do. Carmine absolutely felt the same.

However, at the moment, Jaune's face wasn't as locked into its previously pained rictus. Therefore, Aurelius could only wait and hope that whatever was ailing his son would come to an end with his son still standing and still putting every damn thing he could find into his mouth.

' _Whatever gods are out there, spare my son, please_ ,' the father of eight prayed silently, still stirring the pot soup of soup with his knuckles white against the ladle, as if hidden in the ripples of the dinner he'd give his kids was someone listening to his thoughts.

As if whoever listened could help. ' _He doesn't deserve this. And neither do any of us._ '

Waiting and hoping. He'd done that before exactly three years ago and Aurelius could conclusively say he really sucked at it.

 **XxX**

.

..

…

…

Jaune shifted in the dark. Oh, wait! His eyes were closed. His eyes opened…

…It was still dark. ' _Scary,_ ' he added mentally. It was nighttime and shadows were cast by shattered moon and the curtains across the floor. Jaune blinked quickly as he finally came to.

…Suddenly, there was a bar – and this time, it wasn't squiggly. It was straight and a nearly luminescent golden, but it didn't light anything up.

Beneath the lunar golden bar, for a moment before fading into darkness, was his name. It was the first thing he ever learned to write.

 **JAUNE ARC**

The bar was missing a side. Slowly, it filled up with small rectangles. Beside it were two letters Jaune had yet to see together:

 **HP**

…What was happening? Jaune didn't see the squiggles anymore – and they were usually beneath people or objects. There were letters now and this new bar –

Ah. It faded away too. Now he could see only what he was looking at before.

 **QUEST RECEIVED**

 _ **IF YOU COULD SEE WHAT I SEE**_

Ah! What? Jaune had some sort of impression burning into his brain – he didn't see the words through his eyes, yet they were there. He didn't know what the words meant, but, somehow, he understood what they were asking of him even if he didn't understand a lot of sentences.

○ **Find a device to act as a HUD.**

○ **OPTIONAL: Find one without anyone's help.**

It… he felt something. He did not understand the words, but somehow the intent was coming clear to his childish mind.

He… had to do something. It was important, very. He needed to find something. It would help him understand… things. Jaune didn't understand much more than that. He needed to find something that he could look at the words on…

Oh! Wait! He knew just the thing!

 **XxX**

It was dark that night. Jaune could still see words appearing here and there – no longer fading, disappearing instantly as he moved away from them. Only a few things were immediately recognizable as he walked towards the living room and, as soon he saw them, words popped up. They all were that same solid yellow color that everything else had been.

 **LAMP**

 **JAUNE'S ROOM**

 **Open**

Jaune blinked. He had to open the door to his room! Thankfully, the night light was still right outside his door and Jaune could see that the door was cracked open slightly. All he had to do was –

He was out! Jaune giggled a little. He was awake when he shouldn't be, he was like the mouse from his sister's show! Walking around without being seen and without being heard.

Oh right! He had to be quiet, everyone was tired and Mama and Dada might get mad at him for being awake so late. Maybe he needed to crawl? Should he move fast? Should he move slow? How did Dada move so quietly sometimes?

Golden words slowly took shape in reality, much like his name had before. Once more, Jaune clutched his head since he didn't know the _meaning_ of the words, yet… somehow he knew what they _meant_.

They faded and Jaune saw the words once more before they winked out.

 **TO SNEAK, CROUCH.**

The words… if he wanted to move quietly, he had to… get closer to the floor and move slowly?

Jaune bent his knees, almost tripping as he took a step forward. A new word appeared on his screen instantly but it faded away after a second.

 **[HIDDEN]**

It was like hide and go seek! His sisters told him about this game; it was one big kids played! That's right, Jaune was… three! He was a big kid now!

 **You have discovered**

 **THE ARC FAMILY HOME**

 **+10 XP**

…Why did the words keep leaving? What were the letters 'XP' supposed to mean? Appropriately distracted, Jaune unconsciously pouted as he moved slowly towards the living room, consumed in thought with the words that suddenly left their mark on his mind. In his thoughts, he did not notice a sliding bar appear in the lower right part of his vision with a tick sliding right of the number **1** toward a **2**.

According to what he saw, he had… found his house? That was weird! Was he playing hide and seek with his house? With other people's houses? Wait, that was cool, not weird! But were houses any good at hide and seek?

And the XP! He… grew? What was happening to him? It was so cool! Was he becoming more of a big boy – a 'man' like Dada?

Oh wow! Dada probably had a lot of XP if he was so big! Jaune needed a lot too!

"Got to find more houses!" Jaune quietly giggled, not realizing he hadn't tripped over his tongue or messed up his words at all.

Right! He had to find the TV first! Oh, and stay quiet too!

The nightlight's light slowly disappeared as he got further away from it. The only light Jaune noticed now was dim light from the moon coming in through the windows.

Wait. He just realized.

It was _really dark_. Suddenly, Jaune's head swam as fear suddenly gripped the three year old who still slept with a night light; who'd yet to stop being scared of the monsters his sisters told him lived in the closet at night – the big black monsters with white masks.

He'd been so worked up when he woke up that he didn't really remember that it was really dark… that the dark was really scary.

The boy trembled and suddenly fell to his knees. Jaune pulled the light blue ears of his rabbit onesie over his eyes, afraid to keep going forward.

"Mama… Dada… Saff… Wis…" Jaune slowly whimpered as he thought about them, wishing someone would wake up and save him from the dark and the monsters that might be in the next closet, wishing the night would go away, wishing he could just fall asleep right there and that someone would help him. "Dawn… Vert… Azu…" he gasped.

Warm tears suddenly rolled down his face. His voice was too quiet to be heard by anyone. No one would save him doing that. Apprehension suddenly gripped his heart –

If he cried, someone could help him. The light would be on again and the monsters would disappear – after all, Saffron told him so.

But… the words… he'd wake everyone up. He wouldn't be listening to the words that he saw. He'd be a bad boy.

He'd wake up Mama and Dada. He'd wake up all his big sisters. They would be mad. He'd be a bad boy by doing that too.

And if he was scared, he… he wouldn't be not-scared like Dada. He wouldn't be a big boy. And he was three – he _was_ a big boy! He couldn't…

Jaune swallowed. He kept his wet, blue eyes covered by his big, blue bunny onesie's ears, which wiped away his tears, and kept crawling forward and wished that the big monsters wouldn't find him –

There was a long, repeating sound that Jaune suddenly noticed – it rumbled with a long, ' _Doooooon…_ ' that he heard above him. Unbeknown to the boy, it was the furnace of the house. But to him, it was only confirmation.

' _Monster_ ,' Jaune thought, fear rising. It was in the house, way above him – maybe in Saffron's closet? Whatever it was, he couldn't see it, so it wasn't there with him. So long as he was quiet, the monsters wouldn't hear him and Mama and Dada wouldn't wake up.

He just had to keep moving, keep going –

"Oof!" Jaune yelped quietly, as his head suddenly bumped against the couch. He quickly covered his mouth. Suddenly, more words appeared.

 **[CAUTION]**

Jaune closed his eyes – he'd made too much noise! Would his parents wake up? Would the monsters get him? He sat there for a little while before finally a familiar word re-entered his view.

 **[HIDDEN]**

…He was safe. And he was in the living room, too. Almost to the TV!

But how could he get to the TV without looking at it? Jaune pulled himself up to the couch and, in a stroke of intelligence, pressed his hands against the couch. Slowly, he stretched his arms and kept pressing against the furniture, eyes firmly shut in a facsimile of determination, as he tried to find the edge.

Found it! Jaune pulled himself to the right edge of the couch and ducked his past it as he peeked open his eyes. The TV was near a window and he could see the moonlight strike the floor. Quickly, he got up and rushed over before sitting down in front of the TV.

It was blank and off and Jaune knew that. It was black and reflective. Moonlight striking the screen, Jaune could see his face in the TV, looking back with tear-stained blue eyes; round cheeks; and his big tuft of blond hair. He didn't look different ever since he woke up… but didn't he feel different?

Abruptly, Jaune yawned, having been asleep for a while before this and from the adrenaline due to fear finally withdrawing from his system. It was just catching up to him as he covered his mouth when he did it in order to make less noise – and like he always Dada do! His hand touched the screen as he lowered it and suddenly –

 _It came alive with light_.

○ **COMPLETED: Find a device to act as a HUD.**

○ **COMPLETED: (OPTIONAL) Find one without anyone's help.**

 **QUEST COMPLETED**

 _ **IF YOU COULD SEE WHAT I SEE**_

 **+75 XP**

 **UNLOCKED 'S': SENSORY**

Jaune cringed into his right hand as he kept his left on the screen, head aching as the meaning of what he'd done so far stamped itself into his brain.

He'd done as he'd been asked and now, he was a lot more… grown? He didn't feel different. Yet, something inside him felt like he was almost… almost different. Like there was something that still had to be done.

He also learned that he'd been made capable of doing… something. Finding things?

Jaune kept touching the screen as the words suddenly faded from it before new ones took their place.

 **JAUNE ARC**

 **STAT INV**

 **STATUS SPECIAL PERKS**

The word **STAT** was highlighted and the words **STATUS** , **SPECIAL** , and **PERKS** all were directly beneath it. Beneath all those was a faceless individual. It stood in place, spread eagle, with 6 lit golden bars surrounding each limb, the head, and its torso. Beneath that were bars and words.

 **HP 85/85 LEVEL 1 AP -**

Beside the words **LEVEL 1** was a half full golden bar. What was a level? What were any of these things, Jaune mused.

Evidently, unless it was presented to him like before, it didn't seem like whatever was pushing the information into his mind would help him. Having gained more questions than answers, Jaune paused and pulled his hand away from the screen.

The colors, bars, and words instantly disappeared. Jaune's eyes widened before he got an idea. He put his hand back against the TV screen and, once more, the words and numbers slowly appeared.

Jaune giggled. He couldn't help it; he'd seen something cooler than anything Dada had told him about – the TV had pictures on it without being on! And he finally figured out something about the squiggles: They were all _words_!

Did everyone else see these words? Jaune didn't know – but he had to know! He also had to know what all the words meant! Maybe if he did, his head would stop hurting every time he looked at a word he didn't know.

Unknowingly, he'd stood up while touching the screen and his giggles were the last straw – a light went on in the house from a room close to the living room.

Sleepily, Wisteria walked out of her room and spied a blue bunny-onesie-wearing blond brother sitting in front of the TV giggling for some unknown reason.

Her eyes widened in the dark as she padded over to her sibling, who kept touching the TV and giggling, unaware of her presence. Quickly and quietly, she picked him up, muffling his shriek of surprise with a covered hand as she hugged her awake and still functioning baby brother before carrying his little form back to her room.

Almost on reflex, Wisteria stepped past the chair that always seemed to be in the way of the side of her bed she didn't sleep on and dumped Jaune onto it. She then pulled the covers over his scrambling body, calming his thrashing legs and rekindled laughter. Quickly, she stepped around him and got into her side of the bed before continuing to crush his little body against her, trying to make up for her inability to show him how much she loved him for the past three days and nights he'd been unconscious.

Jaune stopped moving as his sister restrained him with a tight hug as she finally closed her eyes. He almost didn't catch what she murmured as she quickly fell back asleep. Wisteria was barely awake even when she heard him initially and got more tired when she carried him back.

"Missed ya'… Jaune…"

Jaune smiled as he felt his warm sister press him against her almost like Mama did. For some reason, it felt like, until now, he hadn't gotten a hug in a long time. So, he made sure to give an extra special one to Wisteria.

It was a gift from the birthday boy to his big sister who helped him when he was scared.

 **XxX**

Naturally, Jaune's awakening garnered many reactions similar to his sister's once his family properly processed it. They were quite tearful as they hugged him and kissed him and told him how glad they were that he was okay. Jaune was bombarded with affection and missed hearing them say they would be taking better care of him in the future since they thought he wouldn't wake up again.

This was because Jaune was, in fact, quite shocked by the revelation.

He had been asleep for 3 days and 3 nights!

When he woke up before Wisteria and managed to wiggle out of her arms and get back to his room, chocolate, toys, and cards covered the table he used for reading and writing. They were all from his family and people from the community who'd hoped he would get better.

Jaune thought they were late or extra birthday presents. Then, he learned he'd been asleep for four days – how scary! Opening that present with the book made him fall sick for four days? If he ever saw that book again, he was gonna hide it in his closet so that the monsters got sick!

In the meantime, Jaune thought it was in his best interest to stop worrying and gobble up some extra chocolates.

Once Jaune calmed down, he couldn't help but count what he'd missed out on: four days of playtime he didn't have with his new bear; four days of no hugs, kisses, or food – except veggie soup, yuck! – from Mama; four days of no stories or hugs from Dada; three days of no playtime, hugs, or kisses from Saffron, Wisteria, Azura, Dawn, or Vert. Three days without any of those things.

And yet… Jaune couldn't help but feel that the night he awoke something… better had begun. It felt like everything he didn't get wasn't as important as what had happened.

It was strange and he didn't understand why, but for the first time in his life…

 _Jaune felt special._

 **XxX**

 **End Chapter 2.1**

 **Hello, this is Ultraviolet. For the next while or so, I'll try something: I'll attempt weekly releases of shorter chapters. The writing so far for this chapter falls under 3000 words and it doesn't reveal a whole lot of the changes quite yet, but I think so far, it conveys what I'm hoping to show. Hopefully it builds some anticipation.**

 **I tried following a commenter's advice with this part and the continuation will continue hopefully next week with a more concrete understanding of what's to come. Also, a note, given a disturbing thing I noticed in a couple of reviews.**

 **This is a VideoGame life story, yes. It is NOT AT ALL related to the Gamer. There is no Gamer's Mind, Body, or infinitely escalating stats like it (even though it will be difficult for me to balance them come the future). Repeat: nothing like the Korean Webtoon, The Gamer. If you haven't realized by now, I'm mimicking the system Bethesda, makers of Fallout and Elder Scrolls, uses in their games.**

 **Note that it will take time for Jaune to reach Beacon, but that doesn't mean he won't meet some people before then. Time will be given explore his growth. Jaune will shake the boat, rest assured.**

 **If you've liked the story so far, please read, Review, Favorite and Follow. Share the story with your friends, too. I'd sound hypocritical, narcissistic, and elitist if I said I write solely because something (a good VideoGame!RWBY story) needs to be written. No, your words and commentary drive me to write more and be a better writer. And I really could use it – all my brainstorming has been influenced by My Hero Academia lately (binged it, liked it).**

 **Hope you've had a Happy Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and a general end to November. Guys, stay strong.**


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